View exchange meeting on improvement of slums in Faridpur

A day-long view exchange meeting on improvement of the life style of the slum dwellers organized jointly by Practical Action, Bangladesh and Society for the Urban Poor (SUP) was held yesterday at local Ambica Memorial hall.The object of the meeting was to find out ways and means and also to strengthen the cooperation between concerned government agencies and Ngos who are working on different fields in the slum areas.The meeting was chaired by SUP chairperson Asma Akhtar Mukta who is also Executive Director of local Ngo Racine.Two power point presentations were made in the meeting displaying the
modus operandi of work going on in twenty thirteen slums of this town. It was disclosed that fourteen local Ngos aided by Practical Action funded by UK-AID and European Union have been working in these slums in cooperation with Faridpur Pourashava.It was told in the meeting that urbanization is growing at a first pace in Bangladesh. About 26 percent people now live in urban areas with increasing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. These people have very limited access to basic services, decent employment
security. They face economic, political and social exclusion which makes them ‘difficult to reach’.The population growth is further fueled by migration by rural people due to natural disasters, employment and livelihood opportunities and the internal dynamics of towns and cities.Speakers opined that the situation prevailing in the slums must be changed with strong coordination of government agencies and Ngos. Speakers also stressed the need for implementing Integrated Urban Development Projects for bringing a positive change in the life of the slum people.Among others, Anowar Hossain, Coordinator of Practical Action, Educationist Professor Md. Shahjahan, General Secretary of SUP Fazlul Hadi Sabbir, Acting Mayor of Faridpur Pourashava Anisur Rahman Chowdhury, Pourashava Councillor Nafizul Islam Taposh, Acting DD of Social Service department AKM Ahsan spoke in the meeting. –BSS, Faridpur